


A Bird's Perspective

by somefantasytosurvivereality



Series: Mary Dursley Grayson [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 07:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somefantasytosurvivereality/pseuds/somefantasytosurvivereality
Summary: So, originally this was from the chapter 4 in A Wizard Among Bats. Basically Dick’s point of view of the first day at the Dursley household with Harry there, after the night with the nightmares. Also including him having a ‘talk’ with the Dursleys that Harry never heard. But, then Dick started to reminisce a bit and suddenly we are learning all about Dick and Harry’s relationship. So, basically this is the first like 4 chapters of AWAB but like time is an illusion so not the most sequential thing I’ve ever written.





	A Bird's Perspective

The day had been nice. Dick got up early and was able to go for a nice long run before the rest of the household was up. The neighborhood was pleasant and Dick, while he enjoyed the noise and excitement of the city, found some tranquility in the suburbs. Not that he would stay here for any long length of time. Suburbs never had big enough roofs to fly. But, still, it was nice to run in the quiet neighborhood and see the world wake up around him.

He had passed the nearby park on his way back to the Dursleys and waved to a few of the nearby kids who tried to waved him down. He had met most of them already in the past few days here. The Dursleys were nice and everything, but Dick was not the kind of person who could sit watching a TV for hours on end, so he tried to get out of the house when they started to do that. He had stumbled upon his cousin pushing some of the younger kids around and helped him see the error of his ways. He and Dudley had then taken some tools from the Dursleys shed and repaired most of the playground equipment. Curious, the neighborhood kids had come to investigate, and Dick managed to strike up a conversation with some, despite their obvious distrust of Dudley. When Dick had come by later without Dudley, the kids had invited him over to thank him, and somehow it evolved into a game of tag.

Today some of the kids seemed to want to learn how to do the handstand they saw Dick do yesterday, which was pretty adorable. Dick wanted to check on Harry, though, just to make sure he was doing alright since the nightmare last night. Plus, he should probably take a quick shower just to rinse the sweat off and he wanted to grab a quick bite to eat at the Dursleys.

Promising to be back in a bit, Dick made his way back to number four at a sedate pace. Taking out his spare key, he unlocked the door and remembered to toe off his dirty sneakers before making his way through the pristine house. Even the manor struggled to be this mechanically clean. Not that it was ever dirty, Alfred would never let that happen, but this house always seemed to have the sharp odor of cleaning products in it, making Dick’s nose sting if he took a breath too deep. 

Dick decided to go upstairs after calling a quick hello to his aunt in the kitchen. He had tried to eat right after a run before, but his aunt had been disapproving of his sweaty and dirty clothes at her table. Not that she said anything about it, but her wrinkled nose and pointed comments caused Dick not to do it again. Dick was used to people sucking up to him because of who he was. He had attended many of Bruce’s parties, and there was no way to escape it there. Even at his old school, Gotham Academy, he had been given some special treatment, not only because he was Bruce’s ward, but also because of his intelligence and awards. It was troubling and unsettling to have people who were supposed to be his family do it as well. Not that Dudley or Harry participated, although Dick had some idea that Dudley had been told to be nicer to him, and Harry would have been told the same. He had hoped it would wear off on his aunt and uncle as they got used to him, but no such luck. 

Dick went quietly into his room, not wanting to wake anyone up. Harry and his bird were still sleeping pretty soundly. Dick didn’t know much about owl health, but he did know quite a bit about nightmares, and it was good that Harry managed to sleep this long, he clearly needed it. Poor kid looked like he had spent too many nightmare filled nights alone. 

Digging out his clothes quickly, Dick made his way to the bathroom next to his room. The washcloth he had grabbed for Harry last night was still in the sink, but dry now, so Dick put it in a hamper for towels before Petunia saw it. 

Last night had been worrying. Dick had already been weirded out that he had not heard any mention of the boy over the past few days. He had, of course, known that the boy legally resided here before he came, because Bruce was right and being prepared was never a bad thing. He had been weirded out however, when there was nothing in the house to indicate another person lived there, besides the extra bedroom that nobody ever mentioned. Dick had questioned Dudley about it when they were alone, and Dudley had told him it used to be his second bedroom but now Harry lived in it. Except he had called Harry a rude name that Dick decided had to do with cousin rivalry or something. 

None of that explained the flap on the bottom of the door, or the plethora of locks on the side. When Dick had questioned Dudley about Harry having an animal or something of that nature, he had said the boy had a weird bird, which did not make any of this make any more sense. 

Dick decided he needed to know more, so, earlier this week, on a night when the rest of the family was asleep, he crept into the locked room. Not snooping per say, just gathering more information. The room didn’t look like a bedroom, was Dick’s first observation. It looked like a guest room, and a shabby one at that. Unlike the nice and well put together furniture of the rest of the house, these pieces were all cheap and older. All the room seemed to have was the bare necessities, a bed, desk, chest of draws and a wardrobe. The bed was made with threadbare sheets and a ratty blanket and the pillows were too worn to give much support. There was nothing on the walls, no knickknacks on top of anything, and not even some scattered papers in the desk. If Dick didn’t know the occupant of this room was at school, he probably would not have guessed any one inhabited this room. It had been strange. Strange and worrying. 

No answers came about the fourth bedroom or its occupant until Dick was eating lunch with his aunt and uncle the day before today. Thankfully his cousin was out at the movies with some friends. Dick found Dudley a very hard person to hold a conversation with. Petunia had prepared some sandwiches and lemonade, and they were enjoying them in the spotless kitchen when the subject was brought up.

“Dick, did you know we had another nephew?” Petunia asked after she had daintily wiped her face with a napkin.

“I did not,” Dick lied after swallowing his food, wondering where this was going. “Is he from your side of the family?”

Petunia’s face pinched in a way that Dick had learned over the past few days meant she did not like where this conversation was going, but was going to grin and bear it. “Yes, my late sister’s son actually, Harry Potter.”

“I’m very sorry to hear about your sister, Aunt Petunia,” Dick said honestly. After all, he knew what it was like to lose a sibling. The pinched smile deepened, so Dick dug deeper. “Does he live with his father?”

Vernon, who had inhaled a worrying amount of sandwiches, laughed loudly, but did not offer any clarification. It was Petunia who continued delicately, “Unfortunately, he passed away in the same car crash as my sister. The boy lives here when he’s not at school.”

This was interesting because the part about the car crash was definitely a lie. He was sure that the poor kid was an orphan, but it seems like there was more to this story than just a car crash. And Tim was worried Dick was going to be bored when he was here. 

Deciding he couldn’t pretend to be ignorant about the only other bedroom in the house, Dick asked his next question. “Is his the room with all the locks?”

Petunia clearly made an effort to appear nonchalant as she made to wipe crumbs off an already impeccable blouse. “Yes,” she paused for a moment, looking at a napkin rather than at Dick. “He’s rather disturbed, so it is safer for everyone.”

“Very disturbed,” Vernon echoed as he finished up another sandwich. 

Dick’s confusion mounted. He had seen some personal information about the family, some medical files simply so he would know what he was getting into. Tim had told him he was being a bit creepy, but the little stalker child really didn’t have room to talk. But, if there was a diagnoses of anything, it definitely would have been in the files. 

“That’s too bad,” Dick took another bite of his sandwich and swallowed carefully. “Is he getting treatment?”

Petunia’s smile somehow grew even thinner as she and Vernon exchanged significant glances. “It really isn’t something I feel comfortable discussing.”

“Of course not,” Dick agreed, and subtly changed the topic to discuss the time of the boy getting here rather than the boy himself. He only half paid attention to discussions about when Vernon ought to leave and how traffic would make the drive unbearable. Dick was too busy pondering the strange mystery that was Harry Potter.

After lunch, Dick went upstairs to call Tim to tell him about this strange development. He ended up talking to Barbara too about the latest gossip, both superhero and civilian, and managed to call Conner as well, just to check up on Young Justice and how the team was doing. It was strange to not be there in some time, but Conner forced him to stop prying by hanging up, which was frankly extremely rude.

Coming back downstairs, Dick paused halfway down when he heard voices coming from below him. 

“Tell the boy he better not say anything to the guest,” Petunia’s hiss was easy enough to make out from Dick’s vantage point.

“He already knows not to let his freakishness loose in the house,” Vernon responded then said something else that was muffled by the jingling of car keys. 

Petunia sighed as she opened the front door. “Just make sure you remind him.”

Dick contemplated this as the couple exchanged good byes and Vernon headed out, while Petunia went to the living room to work on her current crochet project. Deciding to be a bit more social to see if any answers would be forthcoming, Dick grabbed a book that Alfred had recommended and sat with his aunt in the sitting room. Realizing that the woman clearly didn’t want to have a conversation more meaningful than the progress of the hat she was making for her husband, Dick cut his loses and started to read the book. 

He was interrupted by his uncle coming in and sitting heavily on the couch. Vernon picked up the remote and flicked the television on with barely a grunt of greeting.

“Is Harry back?” Dick asked, putting down his book. Vernon grunted again, and Dick decided that must be a yes. “I’ll go say hi, then.”

Another grunt from Vernon, accompanied by a sharp sniff from Petunia followed Dick from the room. Leaving the house, he saw the boy standing and contemplating the truck in the car. After making himself heard and offering to help Harry carry the trunk up, Dick introduced himself. 

The boy was not what Dick had expected, not that he had to many expectations. He was much thinner than any of the Dursley’s and he seemed friendlier as well. He didn’t seem to have any knowledge of Dick, but Dick already knew Vernon wasn’t the most verbose, so that could hardly be the boy’s fault. 

The boy was afraid of something clearly, if his anger was anything to go by. It reminded Dick of Jason, when he first came to the manor with Bruce, when he was all scowls and fake confidence as his world turned upside down. But, Harry also had a lack of trust in people he should have been able to trust, mainly his relatives, that reminded Dick sadly of Tim. Clearly this poor boy needed some help. Yet, Dick didn’t notice any signs that Harry was disturbed in the way his relatives indicated.

He talked to Harry a bit about his own past, and wondered if he could get any clear answers to the questions that he had about Harry’s home life. He learned a few interesting pieces of information, but they seemed to leave him with more questions than answers. The cat flap that apparently wasn’t for any animal seemed to be the most worrying part, although Harry’s lack of concern about the abominable condition of his room was a close second. Unfortunately, they had been called down to dinner before they could talk too much more.

Dinner somehow was simultaneously better and worse. Dick kept up a stream of conversation, mostly with Petunia, since everyone else seemed to be too busy eating, as usual. However, it was hard to miss the tightening of Petunia’s lips whenever Harry so much as breathed too loud, or the way Dudley, who hadn’t seen in cousin in months, barely looked at Harry. It was awful. These were the people that Harry was supposed to trust, and this was supposed to be his home. How could these people treat him this way?

Dick almost said something when Harry’s attempted to take seconds was discouraged, but instead he continued talking and made sure the kid got enough. The worst part was not how apathetic the Dursleys were being, but how Harry seemed to find this completely normal. It was despicable! 

At the end of the meal, Dick found that he couldn’t watch these interactions anymore, plus Harry looked dead on his feet, so he sent Harry off to bed and had some quality time with his aunt. Dick had hoped to learn more about the boy, but, while Petunia could go on and on about Mrs. next door’s hair dye addiction, she was surprisingly tight lipped about her other nephew. 

Dick even tried to talk to Vernon and Dudley, but they were pretty wrapped up in the television and did not take kindly to interruptions. After a painful hour of watching a badly written detective show, Dick finally admitted defeat and decided to head up to his room. He checked on Harry quickly on his way past, and was glad to see the boy getting some rest.

He wanted to talk to Bruce about the weird stuff that was happening, but Bruce was currently working with Knight and Squire on some big case, so he wasn’t surprised when Bruce didn’t offer more than a few words on the subject. But, Bruce did assure him that the case would, hopefully, be wrapped up in the next twelve hours and he would call then. 

It felt strange to be so idle this early in the night, but Privet Drive wasn’t exactly a place where one could get out some energy by crime fighting, which was good in its own way, but still a bit disappointing. Deciding there was nothing else to do, Dick made an early night of it and headed to sleep. 

His sleep was interrupted by a loud cry, which sadly Dick recognized easily as a nightmare since they were so common in the manor. He rose quickly from his bed and made his way to the door. He wasn’t sure what he expected from the Dursley’s, but no one else even seemed remotely willing to help, which was awful.

At the manor, nightmares were a group job, and, depending on the severity, everyone was more than willing to lend a hand. It took a bit for Dick to calm Harry down, but Dick had some experience in this area and knew to just wait it out. Convincing Harry to come to his room was simple, and Dick decided he would speed the process along by helping the boy grab a change of clothes. 

Living in a tightly packed trailer for the beginning of his life and then in a house with arguably one of the most paranoid people on earth as well as an overly helpful butler and younger brothers, Dick acknowledged privacy as something that existed but not a reality in his life. However, when he opened Harry’s trunk, Dick saw some rather unusual things. Not the normal things that teenage boys hid from prying eyes, but a book clearly labeled The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four, along with a few other things that were just curious enough to make Dick wonder. 

“I can do that,” Harry said, suddenly sounding much more awake than before. Clearly he had something to hide then. Dick stood up without a fuss, and tried to seem casual as his mind whirled. This was clearly not the time to ask Harry about this.

Dick got to stripping the bed, but was distracted by Harry’s bird clicking her beak at him. Dick had always been fond of animals, much to Alfred’s displeasure, so he greeted her happily. She seemed to like him, which was nice. Her feathers were soft and she preened at the attention.

Dick tried to act casual when Harry came back, quickly shepherding the boy and the bird back to his room. Harry was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but Dick made sure to wait a bit just to be sure. 

Going back across the hall, Dick made his way into Harry’s room and opened up the kid’s trunk again, this time with the flashlight on his phone. Sure enough, the strange book was still there. Dick picked it up and flipped through, and it seemed like an average school textbook, with the exception of it teaching magic instead of biology or something. Curious, Dick dug further into the trunk and found a few more similar textbooks that taught strange subjects. He also found a stick resting on some rather odd looking clothes and this must be the wand that the textbooks talked about. 

There were other weird things: gloves made out of a material Dick couldn’t identify, something at the bottom that could only have been a cauldron. Dick carefully put the objects back the way he had found them, with exception of putting the first book he had seen upside down so Harry wouldn’t be suspicious.

Deciding he was a bit out of his depth, Dick called Zatanna for her knowledge in most things magical. 

“I know you work nights, Dick,” she answered, and, wow, she did not sound thrilled to hear from him. “But, not all of us do, and aren’t you supposed to be on vacation or something?”

“It’s alway wonderful to hear your lovely voice, Zatanna,” Dick responded, keeping his voice low to not wake his relatives. 

“Yeah, I’m sure. What do you need this time, boy blunder?”

“Ouch, why are you assuming I need something?”

She sighed loudly into the phone. “Just a hunch.”

“So, my cousin may be a magician,” Dick told her. Zatanna didn’t answer for a few seconds.

“Do you think I know him or something?” she answered after a second, clearly fighting back a yawn, and Dick took a moment to feel kind of bad. “We don’t all know each other, Dick.”

“No of course not,” Dick hastened to assure her. “Harry just seems like a nice kid and I’m curious.” There was another pause.

“It wouldn’t happen to be Harry Potter would it?” Zatanna sounded resigned, and the tiredness was suddenly gone from her voice. 

Dick grinned. “I thought you said you didn’t know everyone?”

It turned out she didn’t know Harry personally, but the kid was rather well known in his own circles. This of course lead to a brief crash course in the world of wizards, which Dick had peripherally known existed, but had never truly grasped the scope of. Zatanna didn’t know much about Harry specifically beyond some legends that apparently claimed that the boy defeated a very powerful wizard when he was a baby, and that he most likely attended the magical school of Hogwarts, which was seriously a dumb name. 

Once Zatanna started to yawn through her explanations, Dick started to feel bad again, so he let her go with the promise to get back to her soon. 

The magic made everything make a lot more sense. The ‘freakishness’ the Dursley’s referred to was explained, however, their abysmal behavior towards Harry was still a mystery. Dick understood being scared of strange things, and it was clear that none of the Dursleys possessed this magic. Still, Harry was in their care, they should love him, even with his magic. 

As Harry spent the day with him, Dick found it a bit sad that the kid had to be so tight lipped about such a large part of his life. He knew how bad secrets could be for friendships. Honestly, all of his good friends were fellow heroes, it was too hard to maintain relationships with others sometimes when there was such a big part of him missing. 

Making an impulse decision for Harry, Dick decided to reveal that he did know about the boy’s magic. After assuring Harry about how he knew, and hearing more about the Dursleys’ negative feelings about magic, Harry really did open up to him.

The afternoon passed in a blur of children and screaming when they walked back to the park and were pulled into another game of something. It was a bit of a disappointment when it was broken up, but it was nice to talk to Harry alone again. Magic was very interesting, and it was fascinating to hear about how Wizards functioned and magic in everyday life. 

It was noticeable that they’re feet were dragging when they grew closer to number four, and Dick briefly wondered if it would be wrong to try and maybe find dinner elsewhere considering how awkward last night’s meal was. But, Petunia had probably been working on dinner for a little while, and Dick felt bad skipping a meal she worked so hard on. Maybe tonight would be better. 

Dick knew he had made the wrong choice the moment they walked through the door.

Vernon’s voice carried through the dining room into the main hall. “Is that you, freak?” 

Harry, who had just moments ago been very excited to talk about his owl, was almost deflating before his eyes. This should be his home. He should be loved here, not made to feel like he was a monster, a freak, for something he couldn’t control. 

Dick pushed past Harry and made his way into the kitchen. Harry followed and tried to defend his relatives. “It’s fine! Things like this happen all the time. It doesn’t really matter,” Harry was saying, and each word just made Dick angerier. These monsters had somehow convinced Harry that he deserved their cruelty. Dick had overlooked too many things these past few days, and he was not going to let them get away with this. 

When he shoved his way into the kitchen door, the table was beautifully arranged and the house was spotlessly clean. The occupants had already started eating and didn’t seem to find anything wrong with the cruel words used so casually. Dick made sure to slam to door a bit to get their attention. 

“What the fuck did you just say?” Dick felt the words leave his mouth without really thinking about them. Peripherally Dick noticed the Dursley’s freezing, but he was trying to breath deeply before doing something he would regret.

Petunia’s high pitched indignant screech cut him out of his thoughts, because what right did she have to be indignant when all the pieces were clicking together in Dick’s head and it was clearly they had been abusing a child in their care for as long as he had been there.

Dick repeated himself, but didn’t look away from Vernon because he seemed the most likely to get violent. Dick had no idea how this man was related to his mother and he was glad he had never had the misfortune of meeting him as a child.

Vernon didn’t seem to be capable of violence since he could barely handle a response. 

“I… I wasn’t talking to you!” Vernon spluttered and, yeah, Dick knew that because this man kept practically licking his shoes clearly hoping to get something from him and Bruce by extension. Dick couldn’t believe that his family would be nice as they sucked up to him while treating their other nephew, who had lived with them for thirteen years, like dirt. Dick almost didn’t want to know what else this family was hiding. What other cruelties had Harry had to endue?

He had to get Harry out of this place. Now, immediately. He handed Harry his phone with instructions to pack. It was probably telling how little of a fight the boy put up when faced with leaving the only home he’s ever known.

The room was silent as Harry left, and Dick shut the door behind him as he heard Harry climbing the stairs. He took a deep breath before turning back to the room. 

“I don’t care who you think you are, or who your guardian is,” Vernon huffed, and he shoved his large bulk into a standing position and his face was deeply flushed. “You don’t get to come into my house and-”

Dick spoke over him, not allowing himself to shout, but making sure he was heard. “How long has Harry lived here?”

Vernon spluttered. “I hardly see what that has to do-”

Petunia interrupted him this time, and Vernon was so surprised that his mouth fell open. “We’ve had him for almost fourteen years now.”

Dick ignored his uncle and focused on Petunia who was trying much too hard to look calm. He completely ignored his cousin who was still watching the conversation with a gaping mouth. “In these fourteen years, did you ever care about him at all?”

Petunia’s lips tightened unpleasantly and Vernon tried to talk again. Dick wondered how he hadn’t seen this earlier. 

“That boy is a menace!” Vernon roared. “He’s hurt this family more than you know! He’s lucky we still give him a roof over his head and-”

Dick ignored the man. “A menace even when he was barely a year old and you took him in after his parents had just been killed-”

Vernon got louder. “We didn’t take the bloody boy in! He was left on our doorstep and we were expected to just spend our money and -”

Dick felt something snap. “He’s your nephew! He was an innocent child that you were supposed to love and care for! Not abuse and degrade!”

Dick was breathing hard and almost wished this was a physical fight rather than a verbal one. He was itching to punch something.

“There are things you don’t understand,” Petunia hissed, and this was the first time that she had actually be outright rude to him.

“I know about the magic,” Dick said, and all the air seemed to leave the room at once. Dick wasn’t sure if Dudley had breathed since this conversation started, but he was still as a statue now. The angry flush of Petunia’s face faded to a bloodless white, and Vernon’s face grew somehow reder. 

“Get out,” Petunia breathed, and her lips barely moved. The only reason he heard her was because the room was deathly silent.

“I’m taking Harry with me,” Dick told them, and even though he knew how little they cared about him, there was still a pain in his chest as his only blood relatives kicked him out. 

“Good riddance,” Vernon said with a hearty laugh that only sounded a bit forced. But Dick wasn’t looking at him, he was looking at how Petunia’s lips seemed to somehow get even thinner. 

“Do you have a problem with that, Petunia?”

“I was told,” she paused and took a deep breath, resolutely staring at the wall in front of her. “That the boy needed to be with blood relatives for his safety.”

Dick tried not to laugh at the word safety. His sense of humor was a bit skewed after spending too many nights jumping from rooftops and kicking criminals. He was pretty sure that safe was the last thing Harry felt in these walls.

“I think it’s too late for you to be looking out for Harry’s well being.”

Petunia thought for a moment. “Go. Take him with you.”

Dick was pretty sure this was the nicest thing they had ever done for Harry, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or punch something. He settled on neither and left the kitchen before he had to hear anything else. 

As the door closed he heard Vernon yelling something incoherently, but Petunia’s voice cut through it. “Just let them go, Vernon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, so I'm on Summer break right now and my goal is to write at least 500 words a day. I've been working on this series and some other projects, but if anyone has any ideas I would love to try new things! I've been using some prompt sites, but I thought it could be cool to ask readers what they want to see? Let me know and I might write something :)


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